Ricoh to build $92 mln copier plant in Thailand

TOKYO, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Japanese office equipment maker Ricoh Co Ltd (7752.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday it would spend 10 billion yen ($92.4 million) to build a copier and printer plant in Thailand to meet growing demand for low- and mid-range machines. The new factory, which will be located in the country's eastern province of Rayong, is scheduled to begin production by late 2009 with an initial output capacity of 20,000 units a month.

Monthly production will eventually be raised to 140,000 units, which would raise Ricoh's overall capacity by about 70 percent. By building the Thai plant, Ricoh, which competes with Canon Inc (7751.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Xerox Corp (XRX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in the global office equipment market, aims to spread out its production geographically, a Ricoh spokesman said.

Ricoh currently produces more than 70 percent of its copiers and printers in China.

Shares in Ricoh rose 5.1 percent to 1,673 yen by midday after the news, which was first reported in the Nikkei business daily. The Nikkei average .N225 gained 2.8 percent. (Reporting by Noriyuki Hirata and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Hugh Lawson)